The 49ers know they’ll have their hands full against Atlanta Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” in Week 7 at Levi’s Stadium.
Regardless of his team’s injuries, coach Kyle Shanahan explained how Robinson — and the entire Atlanta offense — poses a well-rounded matchup for San Francisco in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco for the latest edition of “49ers Game Plan.”
“I mean, it’d be a challenge whether we had everyone out there or not,” Shanahan said. “[Robinson] is that type of player. He was that good coming out of college. Getting to study him through college, [he was] one of the best I’ve seen coming out of college. Whether it’s the pass game or the run game, he’s shown that throughout the NFL, I mean, throughout his career. And he’s playing at his highest level right now.
“You can tell he’s got a lot of confidence in running the ball, a lot of confidence in the pass game, and he is put in there with a very good O-line, very good quarterback. It surprised me, but when I was actually looking at the [Falcons’] roster, you know, they do have a top-10 pick at every position on offense. … And they’re all playing like that. And when you put a guy like [Robinson] in the backfield, that’s that talented and only getting better? He’s a huge challenge.”
Robinson, whom the Falcons selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has anchored Atlanta’s offense for the last three seasons.
He has produced 4,172 all-purpose yards and 26 touchdowns on 744 touches over 39 career games.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh must go deep into his bag of tricks to give San Francisco, down All-Pros Fred Warner and Nick Bosa for the remainder of the 2025 NFL season, a chance at slowing Robinson down.
And, as Shanahan alluded to, that’s before mentioning the other issues Atlanta’s first-round-pick-riddled offense presents as led by up-and-coming quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
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